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Chest of Drawers Makeover

This is the first of what I suspect will be many, many furniture makeovers on the Cockamamy Farm blog. I am a big fan of using paint, wallpaper, updated hardware, and more to give old pieces new life. And the new look I gave an old chest of drawers last week is a great example!

But first, the back story: More than 10 years ago, my sister and I rescued two coordinating pieces from a child’s bedroom suite (maybe for a nursery? They were painted a soft yellow and are pretty petite.) we found among a pile of furniture in our step-father’s barn. She took the tall, narrow chest. I took the short, wide dresser. I painted the dresser black, added bin pulls, and used it for years as a bar in my dining room. Currently it is my bedside table (below).

A few years ago, my sister and I traded several pieces of furniture. She gave us the 5-drawer chest that she had painted pistachio green with the original hardware and white detail to highlight the sweet trim design, and Ben used it for his folded clothes. When we grabbed a few pieces from the storage unit a couple of weeks ago (it is on the right, turned sideways, in the photo below), I knew the time was right to bring it home and finally put to use the Benjamin Moore paint in Gray Mirage (2142-50) and drawer pulls I’d bought months ago with it in mind!

Unfortunately, my makeover mind usurped my blogger brain and I didn’t take a decent “before” of the chest of drawers before I started my work! Here’s the best I can do…a photo from my moving sale at our old house. The chest of drawers is on the left.

After cleaning and sanding the piece, I took out all the drawers and removed the old hardware.

I tried on the new pulls only to discover that the spread on the new attachments was wider than on the old…I really wish someone would standardize the width between screw holes on cabinet hardware! Can I get an Amen?

So I patched one hole from each pull, leaving the outer hole to use with the new hardware. Wood filler on the drawer fronts and on the inside of the drawers, a little sanding, a little more wood filler, a little more sanding.

Ready to paint! And, once again, my Graco paint sprayer made it an easy job and gave me a gorgeous finish!

What I didn’t realize before I painted was that I only bought eight of these fabulous bamboo-look drawer pulls when I found them at the Habitat ReStore. Months ago. Sigh. No chance I’d find them there now.

So I needed some coordinating hardware. And found a big score at Target with these cute knobs! My only complaint is that they come in a 10 pack, rather than singles. So now I have eight knobs for my next project.

After painting, I had to patch the top drawer’s remaining holes. This time I used spackle—the kind that goes on pink and dries white—instead of wood filler because the wood filler has a rough, sandy texture and spackle is smooth.

Spackling, sanding, more spackling, more sanding…then I touched up the paint on the top drawer.

Next, I measured and drilled for the new hardware.

Finally, I moved all the pieces upstairs to our bedroom and reassembled it. And here’s the finished product! I love it against the barn wood wall! What do you think?

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3 thoughts on “Chest of Drawers Makeover”

It looks fabulous – just like everything you guys create! I’m going to need to tap into your expertise before I tackle the two white lacquered chest – one tall and narrow, and the other short and wide–at the cottage in Okoboji. I want to refinish them in slate blue for the new house.